


Birds of a Feather (ON INDEFINITE HIATUS)

by InsanityIsUnderrated



Category: Maximum Ride - James Patterson, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Basically just a weird idea I had, Crossover, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gyakuten Saiban 5 | Dual Destinies Spoilers, I Don't Even Know, I'll add more tags later, I'm Bad At Summaries, Post-Gyakuten Saiban 5 | Dual Destinies, SOF AU, Some OOC, reading Maximum Ride is recommened but not required
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-17 02:45:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9300599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsanityIsUnderrated/pseuds/InsanityIsUnderrated
Summary: It started out as a fairly normal situation: a sick, injured girl showed up on Prosecutor Blackquill's door one night.However, the situation was, in fact, far from normal.Because normal girls don't have bird wings attached to their backs.(I most likely will not post anything else on here. Sorry.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ladies and gentlemen, the crossover nobody asked for and nobody will ever read! Yaaaaaaaay...
> 
> Okay, I'm sorry. One thing you should know about me: I can't write Simon Blackquill very well. Why I decided to make him the main character of this fic...I will never know.
> 
> Also: this is technically an AU of School's Out - Forever (2nd MR book). I'll explain later.

Simon never liked the night. The night was when everything became dark and began to blend together. Everything familiar was completely swallowed by the empty void that was the night. It left behind only one thing, the one thing he didn't want to face: his nightmares.

They'd started seven years ago, back when he was a convict locked away in jail. His life was plagued with nightmares, both day and night. When his innocence was finally proven, the horrors of prison life stopped, only to live on as new nightmares he now faced each night.

Simon put his hand to his head and looked up at the ceiling. He woke up from one of his nightly horror sessions an hour ago, and the effects it had were finally beginning to wear off. His hands shook less, and he felt as if he could at least move again. 

*Deep breaths,* Simon thought, *Focus on letting the air in and out of your lungs.*

He closed his eyes for a moment, only to sharply open them again. He was tired, yes, but he wasn't ready to dive back into his night terrors. Simon turned onto his side and tried to suppress all the feelings of fear that pooled in his mind.

DING DING DING DING DING DING DING!!! Simon leapt out of his bed, startled by the sound. His eyes frantically darted around the room, looking for the source of the loud beeps, only to realize it was the doorbell. 

With some hesitation, Simon put on his coat on over his sleepwear and made his way out of his room and to the door. Whoever it was, they must have had at least a decent reason for being up that early. 

*Perhaps it is another resident of this apartment complex,* Blackquill thought, *No salesman in his right mind would be up this early.*

He paused for a moment. That didn't sound logical either. No other residents were up this early.

Simon shook his head. No matter. Whoever it was, he would them send away. Carefully, he undid the locks and opened the door ajar, glaring through the crack.

To his surprise, no one stood to face him. Simon was looking out into a dark, empty hallway. He looked around to make sure he wasn't missing anyone. That's when his eyes locked on her.

A little girl, probably about seven or eight years old. She was shivering in the doorway. And she looked like a mess. Her hair was long and in tatters, and streaks of dried mud and tears seemed to completely cover her tiny pale face. The side of her head had a large patch of dried blood covering it. The scene was almost nightmarish.

*How fitting,* Simon thought grimly.

"P-Please...h-h-help-p-p...m-me," the girl stuttered, her body shaking rapidly, "I-I need h-help..."

Simon wasn't exactly sure how to respond. With anyone else, he would have gruffly closed the door and gone back to bed. But there was something strange about this girl; something that was keeping him from leaving.

His head started to hurt. It felt like something was trying to dig into his skull. Simon grabbed his forehead. 

"Simon."

A chill ran up his spine. That voice. It was...familiar. He hadn't heard it since-

"Simon. Please. "

A flood of memories swarmed into his head. Memories he'd tried to suppress for seven years. Blackquill tried to abort the thoughts and turn away, but it was as if someone was controlling him.

"Cykes-dono..." he whispered hoarsely.

No. That wasn't right. It was her, yes. But she was younger. The voice...he hadn't heard it in seven years. Athena Cykes, when she was only twelve years old.

"I need...help..."

This time, Simon heard both the girl at the door and young Athena. He felt dizzy and leaned on the doorframe for support. 

That was all it took.

~~~~~

Simon couldn't remember what he'd done for the thirty minutes after that. He vaguely remembered taking a towel out of the closet and turning on the shower, yet he was still dry. That meant he'd decided not to take one. Though he didn't remember turning it off...

Well, it didn't matter what he did. So long as he knew right now. And right now, he intended on getting as many hours of sleep as possible before work the next morning. 

Except he forgot about the nightmares. And soon he was awake, lying in a cold sweat, frantically scanning the room. 

Simon noticed Taka had left out the open window. That was normal. He usually left the window open so his feathered friend could take midnight flights, and Taka was always back by morning.

However, there was one thing that was out of place: a voice, a child's voice. Singing. And it was coming from his bathroom. Accompanied but the sound of the shower.

*The girl at the door...* Simon remembered. He didn't remember letting her in. Had she broken in herself? 

The singing stopped, as did the shower water. Simon sighed and rubbed his head. Well, the girl was in here, and he needed to get her out. He reluctantly stood from the bed and walked out the door and into the hallway. 

The bathroom door was wide open, and steam was slowly trickling into the hall. Simon peered around the corner, and - to some relief - the girl wasn't there. A wet towel was instead lying on the counter next to an open package of gauze. *She did have quite a gash on her head.*

Simon walked down the hall and into the living room. Again, he was greeted with an empty room. There was no sign the girl had even been there. The only thing that seemed out of place was the open glass door that lead to the balcony. 

And on the balcony, standing on the top of the railing, was the girl. She steadied herself and held her arms out.

Simon was snapped to his senses. *What the devil is she doing?* he thought. Did children normally try to climb into life-threatening situations? Simon quickly started to walk towards her.

The girl must have heard him, because she turned around to see the prosecutor walking towards her. She suddenly dove off of the railing and down to the ground. 

Simon felt his stomach drop. He sprinted out onto the balcony and reached down to grab her. He wasn't about to let someone just thrust themselves out of his apartment, much less a child.

He felt his fingers wrap around something and heard a soft yelp. Simon leaned over the balcony. His hand was grabbing the girl's ankle. Simon let out a sigh. The girl, however, didn't seem so happy about the situation. She was flailing her arms about wildly in the air.

"Let go of me!" the girl yelled. Simon felt his fingers slipping. He needed to call the police, tell them about the girl. They'd take it from there. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Simon say a glimpse of something. Something white. It was coming out of the girl's back. It almost looked like...

*No, that isn't possible,* he told himself. Simon checked again, to make sure he wasn't seeing things. But it was there, clear as day. 

A pair of white bird wings, and they were on the girl's back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well well well...people actually read this. TBH, I didn't think anyone would. Anyways, here's the next chapter. It's a bit better than the last one. It will get better later on though. I've already written out chapters 3 and 4, and I'm slowly getting the hang of writing Simon.

"That's..." Simon muttered to himself. This wasn't possible. There was no way this girl could have bird wings on her back.

But there they were, attached to the girl's back. 

The girl furiously squirmed in Simon's grasp, and he had to pull harder to keep her from falling. "Let go of me!" the girl demanded. 

Simon sighed. "If I were to let go, you would fall several stories down, to what would most certainly be your death." he spoke.

The girl seemed unfazed by this remark. She gave Simon a dark glare. A sharp pain suddenly came to his head. Simon grabbed his forehead, his grip on the girl loosening slightly. 

"Just let her go," someone whispered. He glanced around, searching the dark night sky for the speaker. It came again, louder and sharper.

"You never saw her. You don't know why you're out here. You need to go back to sleep."

Simon glared. Whoever was talking seemed to be using his courtroom tactics against him. Was this some sort of jest? 

"Why aren't you letting go?" the girl yelled. Simon turned back to her. She wasn't struggling anymore. Instead, she was dangling from his hand calmly, as if she was waiting for him to drop her. 

"If I were to let go of you, you wold fall to your death, making me a murderer," Simon was quick to respond. When the girl didn't reply, he continued, "But you are most certainly in need of assistance." He wasn't sure where he was going with this himself, but the girl clearly wasn't old enough to be out on her own.

"I can help myself," the girl stubbornly insisted, "Now let go of me."

Simon shook his head. "You're just a child."

"Let! Go!" she yelled. The girl flung herself upward, flapping her wings. Her body started to swing back and forth like a pendulum. This was going nowhere, and Simon had to think fast. He watched the girl continue to swing before he finally spoke.

"If I may ask, are those...wings on your back...are they real?"

The girl looked up and Simon. Her fierce eyes had completely melted away. She shivered. "Don't tell anyone."

"Why exactly?" Simon asked. There was silence for several minutes. The girl said nothing, only stroked the wings - her wings - with the back of her hand. Simon cleared his throat and spoke again.

"I know people who will help you. They won't hurt you." Simon had absolutely no idea why he was doing this, but he knew that Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth was skilled with investigation work. He would be able to find out who this girl was and how exactly she got wings in the first place. 

"I told you," the girl insisted, "I don't need help. I can find Max on my own!"

"Max?"

The girl gasped. "No! I didn't say that! I..." her voice faltered. The girl didn't say anything for several minutes, as if she was thinking over her options. After a while, she nodded. 

"Okay..." she whispered.

"Alright," Simon slowly lifted the girl up onto the balcony.

~~~~~

*45 minutes...*

Simon and the girl had been sitting in the living room of his apartment in awkward silence for 45 minutes. He had made tea and given some to her, but other than that there had been no interaction past that. 

*Say something,* Simon thought miserably, *Ask her what her name is.*

"Angel."

Simon looked up from his tea. The girl was staring at him. "My name's Angel," she whispered. 

"I didn't ask you anything," Simon stated. 

The girl - Angel - turned back to her cup. "I know," she replied, "But you thought it."

Simon narrowed his eyes. "That's not possible. It's not possible to read a person's thoughts."

"Well I can!" Angel set down her tea and stood up, her hands on her hips, "Here, I'll show you. Think of something - something really specific. Something only YOU would know."

"This is ridiculous," Simon muttered. But he decided to humor the little girl and thought of something that she would have no knowledge of.

"Luke Atmey."

Simon looked up at Angel again, who repeated the phrase. "Luke Atmey."

"What sort of nonsense are you blathering about?" Simon huffed

Angel folded her arms. "There's a man who's in prison. His name is Luke Atmey. You shared a cell with him for a few months, and you think he's really annoying. You also thought a lot of not nice words about him."

The prosecutor raised an eyebrow. "Well then, Angel-dono, could you possibly be more-"

"It's Angel."

"Pardon?"

"My name is Angel. Not Angel-domo."

"Dono."

"Yeah. That. Don't call me that. It's just Angel."

Simon huffed. "As I was saying, you'll need to be more specific if you want to earn my trust in your 'mind-reading'."

Angel paused for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't want to."

"Why is that exactly?" Simon's lips curled into a small smirk.

The girl swallowed nervously. "Because...I don't want to hurt you..."

Simon shook his head. "Why would you be worried about hurting me? If you're only relaying my thoughts, you should have no real concern."

"I..." Angel looked down at her hands, "I could hear your memories. You don't realize it, but you're always thinking about them, in the back of your mind. I could hear voices"

The atmosphere of the room suddenly became very heavy, and Simon wasn't exactly sure how to continue. Either this girl was telling the truth, and actually was able to read his mind, or she was incredible at guessing.

If Simon was honest with himself, the first answer somehow sounded more logical than the second. He sighed. "So, you have telepathic abilities." That was a sentence Simon never thought he'd say.

Angel nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes I can even control what people do," she paused, "Max doesn't like that, though."

"Who is this Max?" Simon asked, "You mentioned him earlier. Is he, by any chance, your guardian?"

"Well, she's a girl." Angel started, "And she's my older sister. But she's not related to me. She just takes care of me."

"Is she aware of..." Simon gestured towards Angel. She slowly spread her wings out.

"Yes..." Angel whispered. "She has wings too. We all do." Suddenly, Angel gasped and grabbed her mouth. "No! I didn't mean to..."

"There are more of you?" Simon pressed.

Angel bowed her head. "I...I didn't want anyone to know..."

The awkward silence returned to the room. Simon took a sip of tea, contemplating what to say next. Asking about Angel's wings didn't seem appropriate, as did talking about her strange mind powers.

"What's your name?" Angel asked. "You didn't tell me."

He grunted. "Simon Blackquill"

Angel frowned. "You look kind of like Fang." she commented.

"Fang?"

"He's my brother. Sort of." she admitted, "Gazzy's the only person I know who's related to me by birth."

"And they both have wings?" Simon asked. 

Angel took a deep breath and nodded. "I didn't want you to know, but...as long as you don't tell anyone. We...we can't be found. Or else..." she trailed off.

"Or else what?"

The girl didn't respond. She sat back down on the chair and pulled her knees up to her chest, her wings wrapping around her body.

"Well, at the moment, you need to find this family of yours." Simon stated, "Do you know where they are?"

Angel swallowed. "Not really..."

"What do you mean by that?" Simon asked.

"Well, I don't really know," Angel mumbled. She took another sip of tea. "The last time I saw them, they were in Virginia. But that was three weeks ago. They're probably looking for me right now."

Angel sniffed and rubbed her eyes. She looked up at Simon. "Mr. Blackquill?"

"Prosecutor. It's Prosecutor Blackquill, " he felt unnatural having someone refer to him as 'Mister'.

"Okay," Angel corrected herself, "Prosecutor Blackquill...you aren't going to tell anyone about this...right?"

Simon hardened his glare. "If you are in need of help, it will require many other individuals knowledge in order to treat you."

"Please," Angel begged. "Don't tell anyone. Can you at least make sure the people who know won't tell anyone?"

Simon thought for a moment. "It would be less of a challenge to return you to safety if special individuals were informed."

"What kind of special individuals?" Angel asked.

"Law enforcement. People who are skilled in investigative work." Simon stated, "But, if this is what you wish, they will be sworn into secrecy of this matter. Not a soul other than them will know."

Angel sighed. "Well...okay," she locked her eyes on Blackquill's, "If you can help me find Max, and you promise that everyone who will know won't tell anyone, then...I'll let you help."

"Fine then," Simon stood from his chair and walked into the kitchen. He placed his empty cup in the sink, then turned back to Angel, "Tomorrow morning, I will take you to the prosecutor's office. There is a certain man there who will investigate further into the matter."

"Where am I going to sleep?" Angel asked, "Can I sleep on the bed?"

Simon felt his head aching again. He tried to ignore the pain. "No," he told the girl.

"Pleeeaaase!" Angel begged the prosecutor, clasping her hands together. The pain in Blackquill's head got stronger. He thought back to something the girl had said earlier...

~"Sometimes I can even control what people do"~

Was that what Angel was doing to him? Had she been doing that all this time? Simon grunted and resisted the girl's attacks. "No. You can sleep on the couch."

Angel pouted and folded her arms. The pain in Simon's head instantly vanished. He grunted. "If you are to receive any assistance, you will cease these mind games."

"Aw," Angel whined.

Simon ignored her and retreated to his bedroom for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more of a filler chapter than anything. Don't worry, more stuff will happen in the next chapter, which I will be posting in a couple of days.

Simon had just woken up from the strangest dream.

He'd rescued a girl with bird wings from falling off of his balcony. He had even offered to help her find her family, who also had bird wings. Not only that, but she had been able to read his mind and control what he did at one point. Blackquill was beginning to wonder what exactly the side effects of his medication were.

The worst part of it all, however, was that when he woke up, he realized it WASN'T a dream. When Simon had gotten up, he'd gotten dressed for work and stepped out into the living room to be greeted by the same girl from before, having what looked like a polite conversation with his pet hawk.

"Oh, really?" Angel chirped to Taka, who sat on his perch by the couch, "You must have had quite an interesting night out! I did too! You weren't there, I guess, but I met Prosecutor Blackquill. He's really nice. But you already know that, right?"

Simon cleared his throat, catching the girl's attention. She spun around and gave the prosecutor a bright grin. "Good morning, Prosecutor Blackquill!" she greeted. 

"What on earth were you doing just now?" Simon questioned. 

"I was just talking to your hawk," Angel answered sweetly, as if that was completely normal, "He says that you let him out during the night to fly around."

The prosecutor gave her a confused look. "You can communicate with animals?"

"Sort of," Angel explained, "I can hear their thoughts, and then I just reply back. Sometimes they get scared though."

Simon grunted. "You're lucky Taka is not very easily frightened," he muttered, "He has been known to injure my opponents in court from time to time." This, of course, was mainly Simon's fault, but he wasn't about to say or think it near this girl.

"Taka? Is that his name?" Angel asked.

"Yes," Simon said, "It is short for Takagari, the Japanese term for falconry. It is a symbol of nobility and warrior-spirit for a samurai."

Angel smiled. "Are you a samurai?"

He smirked at that. "I suppose. Though it is difficult to be considered a samurai in this modern age."

"But you're the Twisted Samurai, right?" Angel asked, tapping her chin, "You were having a nightmare last night and someone in the dream said it. They were talking about you."

Simon began to tense up. "You were listening to my dreams." It was a question, but he said it more like a statement.

Angel didn't seem to find anything wrong with that. She smiled and nodded. "Yeah. It's like listening to your subconscious' thoughts!"

He felt his throat go dry. The girl had been listening to his nightmares - the one thing he'd hoped to keep secret from anyone. Simon clenched his hands around the edges of his coat. 

"I-I'm sorry," Angel gasped, "I didn't know you-"

"My thoughts are private, Angel-dono," Simon snapped, "Do not lurk there any longer."

Angel bit down on the corner of her lip. "I won't..." she whispered.

Simon sighed. "We need to be off," he said, changing the subject, "I must be at work shortly." 

"Er...Prosecutor Blackquill?" Angel pointed down at her feet. The prosecutor followed her stare to see the young girl's bare feet. 

"Do you have shoes?" he asked. Angel shook her head. He sighed. "Hmph. Fine. We'll have to make a brief stop then."

~~~~~

This was absolutely embarrassing. 

Simon was standing in line at the shoe store near the prosecution office, clutching a pink shoe box to his chest. This was his fourth time in cursed line at this cursed store today. He'd gotten Angel's shoe size wrong three times, which meant he'd had to embarrass himself even more by having to return the shoes and then proceed to the children's shoes isle in search of the correct pair.

Now, he stood holding a pair of Pink Princess Velcro-strap shoes, regretting everything he had ever done with his life. He could only imagine what the other shoppers thought of him - a man dressed in all black with a mane of hair dripping down his back holding a box of shoes that belonged to a female adolescent.

*I must look utterly foolish like this.*

The woman in front of him left, and Simon took the front of the line. He let out an exasperated huff of breath as he dropped the shoes on the counter. The cashier - the same one he'd gone to the previous three times - scanned the shoes and laughed.

"Still didn't get the size right, huh?" the snarky woman at the register asked. Simon said nothing, only pulled out a credit card and furiously slammed it on the table. The woman scanned the card as well.

"Relax buddy," the woman laughed, "It's not that I'm making fun of you or anything." She handed the prosecutor the shoebox, and he quickly stashed it into his coat, slid his credit card into his wallet, and stormed to the door.

Simon didn't look at anyone or anything other than the parking lot until he reached his car. Angel was in the back seat, brushing through her. Simon yanked open the car door and thrust the shoebox onto Angel's lap.

"Put them on," Simon ordered. Angel pulled the lid off and slid the sparkly pink shoes onto her feet. She grinned and kicked her feet back and forth.

"They fit!" Angel announced. *Finally,* Simon thought. He sat down in the driver's seat and put the keys in the ignition. The car started up and he backed out of the parking lot.

"You have cause me unnecessary strife the morning," Simon grunted.

Angel only giggled and gave the prosecutor an innocent smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can someone please tell me if I'm still not getting Blackquill right? Please? Need some constructive criticism here.


	4. Chapter 4

It never occurred to Simon that he would have to walk into the prosecutor's office with Angel by his side. And when the thought did occur to him, he felt a deep sense of dread rising from the pit of his stomach. 

Angel, on the other hand, seemed to show absolutely no worry at all. She merrily skipped along up the cement steps of the prosecution office and opened the door with a shove. Her eyes glimmered as she danced the room.

"This is where you work, Prosecutor Blackquill?" she asked, "It's so big and warm and it smells like lemons and peppermint!"

"Quit dawdling, Angel-dono," Simon hissed, "The prosecution office is not a schoolyard."

Angel stopped running around and gave Simon a curious look. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

Simon didn't say anything, only continued to keep a steady glare and ushered the young girl down the hall towards the secretary's desk. To his surprise, the usual secretary wasn't there. Instead, a young woman with blue hair tied up with a bandana was at the computer, looking tense and closed-off.

"Secretary-dono-" Simon started.

The blue-haired woman glanced up at the samurai prosecutor and immediately shrieked and collapsed to the floor, sending hundreds of documents flying off the desk. 

"She's scared of you," Angel whispered to Simon.

The woman blinked awake and reluctantly mounted herself on her feet once again. She gathered up the loose documents now scattered across the flooring.

Angel leaned over the desk and gave the timid woman a 1000-watt smile. "Hello there, Ms. Secretary!"

The secretary focused her gaze on Angel. "Oh. Hello there." she whispered. "C-Can I help you?"

"I request a meeting with Edgeworth-dono," Simon told her. The quiet woman leaned over the computer. She spent several minutes scrolling through files on the computer before turning back to the prosecutor, not daring to look him in the eye.

"Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth is overseeing a trial today," the woman mumbled in response, "I can notify him when it's over, if you'd like."

Simon nodded. "That will be-"

"Actually," Angel interrupted, "we need to talk to him now. Right now." She leaned further over the desk. "You could just call him right now and tell him that we need to talk to him immediately."

The secretary became frozen in place. Her eyes grew wide as they stared at the girl in front of her. They suddenly started to glaze over.

"I...I could...call...him..." the secretary murmured. 

Angel nodded. "Right now. Call him right now. Tell him that Prosecutor Blackquill needs to speak with him."

"Angel-dono," Simon knew exactly what the girl was doing. 

But his warning came too late. The secretary's eyes were now fully coated in a glassy look. She swiftly turned to the phone on the desk and lifted it to her eat, dialing a number on it. Simon muttered a curse.

"Just call us when you're done!" Angel chirped. She spun around and began skipping down the halls. "C'mon Prosecutor Blackquill! I wanna see your office!"

Simon's glare darkened, and he started quickly following the girl down the corridor, until he caught up. He turned to face the chipper little girl, happily bouncing up and down as she walked. Angel continued frolicking down the corridor until she slowed to a halt and looked up at Simon.

"Um...Prosecutor Blackquill, did I do something to make you mad?" she asked.

"Manipulating an innocent young woman to do your bidding is despicable," Simon didn't say the words so much as he spat them. 

"Oh really?" Angel folded her arms across her chest, "But you do that all the time, right?"

Simon gritted his teeth. "That is an entirely different kind of manipulation. And I believe you are aware of what I informed you about entering my head."

Angel blushed. "Sorry. I couldn't resist. Your head is full of so many fun thoughts! You know, once you get past the bad ones."

The prosecutor let out an exasperated sigh and walked towards a nearby elevator. He pressed the 'go up' button and waited for an elevator to arrive while Angel twisted her fingers through her curls and hummed the Steel Samurai theme (which she had most likely heard from listening into Simon's thoughts).

When the elevator eventually arrived, Angel grinned and skipped inside, shortly followed by the (clearly fed-up) prosecutor. Simon pressed the '10' button and waited as the elevator made its ascent. 

"Dah dah dah du dah dah du dah dah!" Angel continued to sing the Steel Samurai theme, growing louder with each note.

"Cease your chatter, Angel-dono," Simon hissed.

Angel frowned and folded her arms. "Hmph! But it's stuck in my head!"

Simon sighed and looked above hi head. *At the very least, we have not encountered any other prosecutors this morning.* he thought. He really didn't need to explain to anyone else why he had a small girl with him. 

A soft ding indicated the elevator had reached its destination. It was quickly followed with a loud shout from outside.

"Achtung, Fraulein!"

Of course. Of course they wouldn't be let off that easy. 

The doors swung open, and two prosecutors - Klavier Gavin and Franziska Von Karma - stood outside it. Simon cursed again.

"Fraulein, I don't know how many time I must say it," Klavier huffed. He, too, appeared to be in a bad mood, "My name is Klavier Gavin. Ja, it has German origins, but that does not-"

"Silence, fool!" Franziska yelled, lashing out her whip on the rock star prosecutor. "Your parents were foolish enough to give you such a foolishly foolish name."

"Ach!" Klavier winced in pain, "Nein, Fraulein, my parents were simply fascinated by the German language!"

Franziska whipped Klavier again. "Foolish fool who speak of foolishly foolish lies. You are not even remotely German!"

"Nein! Nein!" Klavier yelled, "Mein Ururgroßvater was born in Germany!"

Angel gazed up at Simon. "Are they your friends?"

Simon furrowed his brow. "Nein...no!" He had a difficult time speaking English after encountering either of the two prosecutors.

Klavier must have heard this, because he turned around and laughed. "Ach, Herr Samurai. You weren't eavesdropping on our little conversation, were you?"

"Balderdash!" Simon snapped, "I was merely on my way to my office, Gavin-dono."

"Hi there!" Angel cheerfully cut in. She waved up at the pair of prosecutors before her. 

"Ach," Klavier smiled and bent down to Angel's height, hands on his hips. "Es tut mir leid, Fraulein. I didn't see you there."

Angel giggled and struck an innocent pose. "My name's Angel."

Klavier laughed again, this time sounding more gentle than the laugh he'd given Simon. "Eine Wenigkeit Engel. I must say the name suits you, Fraulein."

"You are a fool, Piano Gavin," Franziska snarled, "This child clearly doesn't speak German."

"Klavier," the prosecutor corrected, "We just went through this, Fraulein Karma."

Franziska cracked her whip against the floor. "It means the same thing."

"Actually," Angel paused and flashed a wicked grin, "I know a little German. Jeb taught me some."

Simon raised his eyebrows. That was a new name. The only other people Angel had mentioned earlier were Max, Fang, and Gazzy. Never once had she brought up the name 'Jeb'. He was about to ask her when Franziska suddenly joined the conversation.

"Sprechen Sie vielleicht auch Deutsch?" Franziska gripped her sleeve tightly.

Angel beamed. "Ja! Ich denke, es ist eine sehr schöne Sprache!"

Franziska's mood suddenly made a drastic change. She smiled back at the little girl and bent down in front of her, pushing Klavier aside. "Wie viel Deutsch Sie wissen?"

"Eine Menge. Ich lerne schnell." Angel replied.

Franziska grinned at that remark. "Sie sind recht ein Wunderkind für jemanden, der so jung. Wie alt bust du?"

"Sechs."

"So jung, und doch sprechen sie Deutsch fast perfekt. Sie erinnern mich an mich selbst, als ich jünger war."

"Just what, pray tell, are they jabbering about?" Simon asked Klavier, who shook his head.

"Nein, nein," Klavier chuckled, "I know German, but I cannot keep up with their conversation."

Simon growled. He strode towards the delighted girls and cleared his throat. This, however, did not catch their attention.

"Was tun Sie, um die Staatsanwaltschaft's Büro? Sollten't, das Sie in der Schule?"

"Ich habe verloren. Staatsanwalt Blackquill sagte, er würde helfen, meine Familie."

Franziska gasped. "Ach, du armes Kind!" She reached over and - to the shock of the prosecutors watching her - hugged Angel, who hugged her back. "Sie sind eine mutig Seele, Staatsanwaltschaft Blackquill für Hilfe in ihrer Zeit der Not."

"Danke, Frau von Karma."

"Ich kann nicht vorstellen, die Traurigkeit und Angst sie fühlen sich jetzt. Wenn Sie Hilfe brauchen, ich werde hier für Sie."

"Angel-dono, Franziska-dono," Simon grunted.

The girls turned to Simon, who was waited impatiently behind them. "Angel-dono, continue your foreign discussion later. Edgeworth-dono will be arriving soon."

Angel rested her hand on her chin, dee in thought. "What if I kept talking to Ms. Von Karma, and you come get me when Mr. Edgeworth comes?"

Simon sighed and grabbed his head. "Fine. I will be in my office until then.

With that, Simon stormed down the hall to his office, getting further and further away from the excited German banter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It never says if Angel can speak German or not (at least, not that I can remember), but I consider it a headcanon.
> 
> If you want to know what they're saying, um...good luck. You can try using Babylon - the translator I used for this - but it might come out wonky because 'sie' can apparently mean 'she', 'they', and 'you' in German. If you do translate and it doesn't make sense, comment and I'll explain.
> 
> (Sorry, I just freaking love the German language and once Franziska and Klavier showed up, I just wanted to write German.)


	5. Chapter 5

It was an hour later when the phone on Simon's desk rang. He lifted it to his ear. "Prosecutor Blackquill speaking."

"P-P-Prosecutor Edgeworth is r-ready to see you now." the timid voice on the other end stuttered. 

Simon nodded. "Very well then." He hung up and stood from his seat, glancing over at Taka, who had followed his car to the prosecutor's office earlier that day. The prosecutor motioned for the hawk to stay before he headed out the door himself.

To his surprise, Angel was no longer out in the hall with Franziska. He scanned the hall for a few minutes before knocking on Klavier's door.

"Ja?" came a muffled voice from the other the other side.

"Gavin-dono," Simon spoke, "Where have Angel-dono and Franziska-dono wandered off to?"

"Ach. I believe they are in Fraulein Karma's office."

"Hmph. Very well then." Simon huffed. He turned around and began walking down the long corridor until finally approaching Franziska's office. He knocked on the door.

"Max ist ein großartiger ältere Schwester. Obwohl sie manchmal ein bisschen rechthaberisch."

"Meine ältere Schwester verwendet werden, um mich in das Dachgeschoss, wenn ich schlecht benahm und Papa war nicht herum. Obwohl, wenn Papa hatte die mich bestrafen, es wäre viel schlimmer gewesen."

*Still speaking German, are we?* Simon thought.

He heard Angel gasp on the other side. "Ach! Staatsanwalt Blackquill ist hier!" 

The door was flung open, and Angel curtseyed to the prosecutor. "Guten Morgen, Staatsanwaltschaft Blackquill! Ist es Zeit zu gehen?" 

Simon frowned. "I don't speak German."

"Oh, sorry!" Angel giggled, "Is it time to go?"

"Hmph," Simon cocked his head to one side, "Edgeworth-dono is waiting for us."

Franziska appeared in the doorway, looking much too happy to be the actual Franziska Von Karma. "Have fun, sweetie!" she chirped.

"Goodbye, Ms. Von Karma!" Angel waved at the prosecutor, who closed the door behind her.

"Karma-dono never acts like that." Simon scowled.

"Hm?" Angel looked up at the prosecutor with glittery blue eyes, "Well, maybe I messed with her a little bit..."

Simon was taken aback by that statement. "You mean to tell me that you were controlling Karma-dono?"

Angel smirked. "Well, only for a while..."

"Angel-dono," Simon hissed. Angel, however, interrupted him before he could continue.

"You're going to tell me that messing with people's heads is a bad thing, right?" she put her hands on her hips "Well, you aren't Max, so you can't to tell me what to do!"

The prosecutor kept his glare trained on the girl before he finally gave up and headed towards the stairs, Angel merrily skipping a few paces ahead of him.

~~~

Edgeworth was waiting outside the door to his office when Simon and Angel arrived, looking extremely cross. Simon gave him an apologetic bow.

"I apologize, Edgeworth-dono. I understand the trial was very important, but I have a graver matter to discuss with you." he thought it best to pretend he'd insisted the call be made immediately rather than explaining Angel's bizarre abilities right then and there.

The Chief Prosecutor pushed his glasses up a bit and sighed. "I must say, Blackquill, this was most unexpected of you." Edgeworth's eyes suddenly caught on Angel. "Who is this?"

"I'm Angel!" the girl waved at the prosecutor. 

Edgeworth gave Simon a suspicious look. 

"This girl is the reason I requested to meet with you." Simon explained, "She is...well, to say the least, she has an interesting case that requires special investigation."

"Well then," Edgeworth adjusted his glasses once again, "I suppose we should discuss this matter privately." he slid his key into the office door and twisted the doorknob, allowing them entry.

Angel was the first to enter, ducking underneath Edgeworth's arm and making a beeline for the curtains. She grabbed hold of them with both hands and yanked them shut. Edgeworth turned to Simon, awaiting an explanation. Simon simply shrugged in response and stepped into the darkened room. After a few moments, the Chief Prosecutor closed the door and followed, stepping through the silent darkness until reaching his desk. 

"Now then," Edgeworth folded his arms and peered up at his subordinate, "what is all this suspicious behavior about?"

Simon opened his mouth to speak, but wasn't sure where to start. He closed his mouth again and looked down at Angel. With a sigh, Simon continued. "First and foremost, I must ask that this matter be kept with the highest level of secrecy. Anyone informed of this will need to be trustworthy, and will not loose their lips easily."

Edgeworth glared. "What are you driving at, Blackquill?"

"I will only say when you swear to keep this a secret."

"Blackquill."

"Swear it, Edgeworth-dono."

"I don't like the way you're going with this."

"Swear it."

Everything was silent for several minutes. Simon and Edgeworth were both caught in the other's glare. Finally, Edgeworth sighed. "I swear."

Simon glanced over at Angel, who was studying Edgeworth's face, as if waiting for him to continue. After a long time, she nodded and smiled.

Without hesitation, Angel grabbed a wooden chair stowed away in the corner. She dragged it across the floor and into the center of the room. Angel planted her feet on the seat of the chair and stood upon it, then began climbing onto the armrest.

Edgeworth was, quite clearly, angered by this. He again turned to Simon, as though the man were her guardian. "Blackquill, explain this nonsense."

"I believe Angel-dono is capable of explaining herself." Simon answered. He knew what she was planning on doing.

Angel climbed onto the backrest of the chair, retaining perfect balance. "Mr. Edgeworth," she put her hands on her hips, "you don't believe in anything that can't be explained, right? Anything that sound like fantasy."

"I suppose that's one way to put it." Edgeworth nodded.

"Okay then," Angel said, "prepare to be amazed."

In a flash, Angel's wings unfurled, spreading out across the room. Edgeworth was caught completely off-guard by this, jumping back in his chair. The winged girl closed her eyes and dove off the chair. Her wings broke her fall, and Angel began flapping her wings, causing her to rise several feet in the air. 

"That...that's not..." Edgeworth swallowed and tried to regain his composure, "That's not possible."

Angel stopped her fluttering and landed. She folded her arms across her chest and frowned. "Well, it is. Believe it."

"Surely those wings are fake." Edgeworth insisted. 

"Nope! They're real!" Angel laughed. She curled her wings towards the desk. "If you don't believe me, feel for yourself. Real feathers, real wings!"

Edgeworth hesitantly reached out and pressed the back of his hand against the wings. His face flushed pink with embarrassment.

Angel burst into a fit of giggles. "You don't have to feel all weird about it! I don't mind. Just don't get all into it, though. Cuz that's creepy."

The Chief Prosecutor nervously nodded and stroked the tips of the wings for only a few seconds more before pulling back. He muttered something under his breath that sounded like "some sort of elaborate prank."

"I assure you, Edgeworth-dono," Simon scowled, "I thought the same when she first arrived. I do not believe this is a joke."

"You were...aware...of this, Prosecutor Blackquill?" Edgeworth asked.

Simon replied only with a curt nod.

Edgeworth relaxed himself once more. "I'm sorry, I just don't quite see how this is possible."

"There's a lot that seems impossible that's really true." Angel said, "Like how Detective Gumshoe is still a detective when he keeps getting his salary cut."

"How did you..." Edgeworth started.

Angel giggled and flashed a devilish grin. "Oh, I'm don't just have wings. I can read your mind, too."

The Chief Prosecutor laughed and shook his head, taking his glasses off. "I'm sorry. Wings are one thing, telepathy is another. If you really have the power to see into my thoughts, prove it."

There was silence for a moment. Angel glanced over Edgeworth, then smiled.

"Well, first you thought of The Steel Samurai because nobody would guess that you were a die-hard fan. But then you remembered the Steel Samurai figure on the shelf over there, so you thought of some guy named Shi-Long Lang, then you thought of the Yatagarasu, then you thought of your dog, then you thought of your friend Mr. Wright's hair which lead you to think of a witness you met in court once who thought you and Mr. Wright were lovers. And then you thought of an old woman named Wendy Oldbag who's in love with you. So then you finally decided to just think about the updated autopsy report from a case you handled twelve years ago."

Edgeworth was speechless. He stared at Angel, looking perplexed. A smirk grew on Simon's face upon seeing the Chief Prosecutor's expression. 

"Well that's...extremely accurate." Edgeworth admitted, "Is this the reason you are here? Because of your..." he trailed off.

Simon sighed and took a deep breath, not quite eager to explain. But he did, informing his boss about the event of the previous night. The Chief Prosecutor asked few questions, usually only asking to clarify what exactly had occurred. After all was said, Edgeworth took a deep breath and turned once again to Angel.

"Pardon me if this is rude," he spoke, "but were did you 'acquire' these special abilities of yours?"

Angel's cheery face suddenly fell. She stared down at her hands. "I...don't remember..."

The room became silent once again. 

Edgeworth finally spoke up. "So, the last place you saw any of your family was in Virginia. Can you possibly be more specific?"

"I think it was a small town," Angel murmured. "I don't remember the town name, though"

The Chief Prosecutor nodded. He lifted a pen and pad of paper from his desk and wrote down a few notes. "Right then," he looked back up at Angel, "here is my solution: I will send a message to the Virginia law department, explaining that you are here and your family will need to come get you-"

"No!" Angel interrupted. "Please...if they find us...then..."

"Who is 'they'?" Edgeworth asked.

Angel's eyes became wet with tears. "I'm sorry...I can't tell you..."

"If someone is trying to hurt you, you need to tell me." Edgeworth firmly explained, "Your safety is a high priority in this case."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Edgeworth," Angel swallowed, "If...if I told you...they'd hurt you, too."

"Angel-dono," Simon grunted, "surely you are aware of Edgeworth-dono's past investigative work having resulted in taking down an international smuggling ring. Whomever is following you will be nothing more than child's play compared to that."

The girl shook her head. "No...they're...worse than that..." she trailed off.

Edgeworth sighed. "If you wish, I will set up a small group of trustworthy investigators who will be sworn into secrecy. We will find your family and whoever is trying to hurt you."

Angel looked up at the prosecutors. She bit down on her lip, thinking it over. 

"Okay," she finally answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you guys know, chapter updates will be less frequent from now on as I am currently working on a couple of big projects.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I was going to revise this, but then I realized that the revised version I had in mind wasn't working either. Yaaaaaaaaaaaay....
> 
> Whatever. I'll just go with this.


End file.
